


In Reach

by neko_bb



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, SHEITH - Freeform, Season 6 Related, a million shoulder touches, allura and lance low-key pine for each other i guess, allurance, and lance is not surprised, hurt keith, keith (voltron) is NOT bad at feelings, keith loves shiro, krolia moms it up, personal growth and such, reflective lance is reflective, space ranger partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 13:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko_bb/pseuds/neko_bb
Summary: Besides telling them that Shiro had actually been a clone, Keith hadn’t really explained what had happened on the other side of the wormhole. Now, under the armor and the flightsuit, it was apparent what it had cost them—what it had cost Keith—to bring Shiro back.In the wake of their battle with Lotor and the loss of the castleship, Lance and Keith consider each other's growth.





	In Reach

**Author's Note:**

> hi. 
> 
> i have no idea how this will be received, but i'm a big sucker for all the character development that occurred in S6. i mean, i disliked lance forever and here i am, writing something from his perspective. i wanted to explore lance and keith's development based on the camaraderie that was hinted at in S3, maybe redeem my perception of lance a little bit. and write up all that good sheith. i dunno. feedback is appreciated?

_We’re going home._

Keith’s proclamation on the mesa echoed in Lance’s head as he, Pidge and Hunk made a fire and prepped dinner for the night. Not that he was hungry. The thought of home had bottomed out his stomach in a way that food wouldn’t fix—especially not whatever C-rations the lions carried, even if Hunk tried valiantly to dress them up.

His anxiety could also have to do with the fact that when the group had broken to make camp, Keith had stooped to unload supplies from Red, pitched over, and didn’t get back up. 

 

“Keith?! Allura!” Lance slid down the gangplank to reach him. Keith was half-conscious and panting heavily, his ribs expanding and contracting rapidly under Lance’s hands. Allura appeared at his elbow and placed a hand on Keith’s forehead. Krolia materialized behind her, her face terrifying but otherwise unreadable. Keith managed to open his eyes and gaze up at Lance, his expression almost apologetic as his lips twitched soundlessly. Allura closed her eyes, and a white glow issued from her palm. Keith’s body slackened in Lance’s grip, and his eyes drifted shut. 

“What’s wrong?” Lance demanded as the others fell upon them. 

“He’s hurt, but how badly I can’t really tell,” Allura answered, her face twisted with worry. Her other hand had found its way to Lance’s wrist. “Let’s get the armor off.”

Besides telling them that Shiro had actually been a clone, Keith hadn’t really explained what happened on the other side of the wormhole. Now, under the armor and the flightsuit, it was apparent what it had cost them—what it had cost Keith—to bring Shiro back: his ribs and forearms were swollen and would inevitably bruise. His face was already blackening around his eyes and chin. There was blood in his mouth and on his lips. All of this on top of whatever happened to his cheek: the angry blistered stripe that drew dangerously close to his throat and stretched over his jaw with each of Keith’s pained swallows. His hair was painted to his head with sweat and blood, and his paladin gloves were shredded, hands burned and cut beneath. Keith’s body shuddered in his slumber, wracked with tremors as adrenaline (or whatever had kept him going until now) drained away. It was as if Keith had pulled Shiro out of hell itself. And then he had unlocked Black’s wings to comet across space, formed Voltron, and beaten down Lotor, as his lungs betrayed him and blood pooled in his chestplate.

“There is definitely a broken rib or two here, but I don’t think we can’t do much right now other than tape him up and make him comfortable,” Coran said, easing Keith down into a pallet in their rudimentary shelter under the Black Lion’s flank. “I think he’s going to be OK, if not a little banged up for a bit.” He smiled weakly at Lance and Allura, who somehow still had managed to keep the lightest touch on Lance’s arm. 

As Krolia leaned in to dab a cloth on Keith’s face, Lance’s gaze drifted towards the body inches from Keith’s hand: Shiro, preternaturally still, his all-white hair and missing arm still a shock to consider, given that Galra teach was now bound to his shoulder. Keith hadn’t really explained that either. 

Now, as Black’s paladins lay broken and side-by-side in her shadow, Lance could almost imagine the details. He pulled Allura’s hand into his own. 

 

Pidge flicked a chuck of rations at Lance, where it stuck to his cheek and began to slide like a sticky tear-track.

“What the hell?!” He yelled, furiously wiping his face. Pidge smirked, but her expression didn’t reach her eyes. 

“Whoops. I was aiming for your mouth.”

“Why would you do that?!” Lance demanded as he leapt to his feet. Pidge shrank around her bowl, a mixture of defensiveness and guilt crossing her face. 

“What is the matter over here?” Coran, Allura and Romelle had approached the small campfire. 

“Pidge started it!”

“You’re overreacting, it was a joke!”

“C’mon guys,” Hunk started, raising his hands limply. “We’ve all been through a lot today. Can we just…give it a rest?” 

There was a long pause, broken by the soft crackle of the fire.

“Sorry. I—I don’t know why I did that. Everything’s so…”

“It’s ok,” Lance assured. He was suddenly exhausted. He wanted to sink into his bed and sleep for a hundred years. But it was gone. “I’m gonna go check on Shiro and Keith real quick and pass out.”

 

The little lean-to under Black was lit by one softly glowing Altean lamp, which cast odd shadows on the walls and the two prone bodies inside. Krolia dozed by Keith’s head, chin to her chest and arms over her head. The wolf curled against Keith’s side, whose chest still rose and fell in a shudder. Shiro was so still he didn’t look like he was breathing at all. 

As Lance sat down between them, Krolia lifted her head, a sharp motion that startled Lance such that he shot backwards with a yelp.

“Sorry,” she said, rueful. 

“No no, I kinda snuck up on you!” The two lapsed into silence, and Lance fidgeted as Krolia gazed down at Keith. It felt intrusive to be there as she ran a hand through Keith’s sweat-sour hair. Keith would never have allowed such contact if he were awake. 

Then again, maybe he would now, Lance thought. Despite the barb he’d greeted Lance with at the hangar (had that only been hours ago?), Keith had changed body and soul in his time away. Where he had been doubtful and withdrawn as the black paladin during Shiro’s absence, he was self-assured now, unflinchingly accepting the black lion’s mantle, decisive in their battle with Lotor—

And even in his recovery of Shiro, he did not hesitate to strike out alone into the depths of space, just as he had done before, to save him. But this time, he left with a promise to return. And he had returned, the full power of the black lion literally on his back. 

Keith had been losing Shiro and lost for years it seemed, Lance thought as he bored a hole in the sand by his knee, watching Keith’s pinched and sleeping face. He had endured the grief of Kerberos—on top of the loss of his parents and his home—to the point of his almost self-destruction. His devotion to Shiro had pulled them all into saving the universe. After Shiro’s disappearance following his fight with Zarkon, Keith, to some degree, reverted to that same wild animal that had torn at Iverson’s eye and fled to the desert—this time by finding the clone and then inexplicably leaving for the Marmora. 

But then, when Shiro seemed truly lost to them all for good, Keith had not hesitated. He had found the power to drag him back. Lance watched Krolia’s ministrations and knew that Keith’s tenure with the Marmora was likely not responsible for his new strength. 

Lance clenched a handful of dirt. And where had he been? What good had he done as Voltron’s right hand? Unhelpful in Keith’s grief, unseeing of Shiro’s struggles, tricked by Lotor’s plot, unable to—he cut himself off as Allura filled his thoughts. 

Krolia shifted as Keith opened his eyes and attempted to sit up. Krolia held him down and murmured into his ear, something low and soft that Lance didn’t catch. Keith let out a cross between a huff and a gasp, then, “Lance?”

“H-hey!” Lance scrambled to stand, “I was just checking to see if you were still alive over here, and it looks like you are, real cool, great work saving every reality and stuff. Next time you can let us know when you’re drowning in your own blood before you do any heavy lifting, OK?” 

“Lance, wait, what—”

“Lance, can you stay here for a bit? I’m going to go eat,” Krolia rose to her feet and stretched. “I’ll be back later.” She must have sensed Lance’s uncertainty and given him an out. Curse her.

Keith watched Krolia stride away for a moment before struggling into a seated position, grimacing as he leaned into his hands crossed his legs under him with a grunt.

“Keith, wait, shouldn’t you—”

“Come on, you’re going to lecture me?”

“Dude, you went down like a sack of bricks. Just take it easy.”

Keith attempted to sigh, but it sounded like more of a wheeze that caused Lance to raise an eyebrow. Keith rolled his eyes, then turned and placed one hand on Shiro’s chest, as if to check to see if he were still breathing. Lance felt out of place again, watching the way Keith studied Shiro’s face. 

An icy pang shot though him. “Keith,” he ventured, “Did Shiro…did you fight Shiro?”

Keith’s head bowed, hiding his face. 

The bottoming out of Lance’s stomach had returned. “Ah, Keith. I’m so sorry, man.”

Lance reached out, uncertain, then placed it on Keith’s shoulder. “It’s ok,” Keith said, keeping his head down, “I’m ok.” He shook under Lance’s hand. It was as much from Keith as Lance had ever seen. He let him break like this—soundlessly, save a few hitching breaths, with one hand on Shiro. 

After a few long moments, Keith took a shuddering breath and looked up, smiling weakly. “You and Red are amazing together. Told you to leave the math to Pidge.” 

Lance scoffed and broke away, bitter taste rising in his throat. “Some right hand I am. I couldn’t—I didn’t—”

“Lance, stop. You’ve said I’ve changed. You have, too. In the castle, right as Haggar took over, you—” Keith shrugged, “I saw you. You’ve stepped up.”

The bitterness intensified. Before he could stop himself, he whispered, “I couldn’t protect her.”

“Allura?” 

Lance nodded, somewhat startled at Keith's perceptiveness. Keith was thoughtful for a moment. His gaze turned back to Shiro. “Sometimes,” he began, his fingers curling slightly in their place on Shiro’s chest, “the people we love…fall beyond our reach.”

Lance felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. He understood the outlines of Shiro and Keith’s relationship, but to hear him announce it as the wounds the Shiro-clone dealt still bled on his face was something different. 

Keith looked up, determined. “You’re strong, Lance. From what I saw, Allura knows you’re strong, too. She looks to you. Maybe you don’t need to protect her. Maybe you just be there for her. And when she goes somewhere you can’t follow,” his voice softened, “you stay close enough to bring her back.”

His voice failed him for a second as he attempted to chuckle, “O-ok, now I know you aren’t Keith. Who are the hell are you and how did you manage to nail that mullet?”

Keith let out a breath of laugh and looked away. 

Shiro stirred ever so slightly under Keith’s hand. “Keith?”

He leaned closer into Shiro’s space. “I’m here.” Shiro’s face broke into a smile, and his hand met Keith’s on his chest. He startled when he saw they weren'tt alone. “Lance?”

“The one and only,” Lance felt himself grin, “It’s...so good to see you awake.” Shiro grinned back at him. 

“Well! I’m gonna hit the hay. Long day saving the universe and all. Longer day driving back to Earth tomorrow.” He felt another thrill wash through him as he stood. Keith watched him, a knowing look in his eyes. Lance flicked a lazy salute in his direction and wandered back to the circle of light.

 

“Lance,” Allura stepped away from the fire as he passed. 

“Hey, princess.”

“Krolia said that Keith was awake and that you were with him,” she said. The statement carried an anxious question.

“Yep. He seems ok. Shiro is awake now, too.” Allura’s face was a rush of emotions—relief, joy, guilt, more worry. “Allura,” Lance touched her shoulder, “It’s ok.”

She inhaled and leaned into his hand, and he squeezed her shoulder in response. 

“You know, Allura…that if you ever needed anything, you could count on me, right?”

She looked confused for a moment, then smiled. “Of course. I’d do the same for you.”

“You’ve already had to save me once, I guess.”

“Because you had already saved me!” Her eyes shone in the amber light of the fire. “And believed in me, and helped me when I was lost…” She looked away. 

If he had not yet been struck by lightning, it was probably happening now, Lance thought. He drew Allura into his chest and she wrapped her arms around him. He thought about Shiro and Keith, his apparent hero and rival, just beyond the light of the fire, who crossed galaxies and astral planes to reach each other. Who fought back the universe and even themselves to find each other, over and over and over. 

“Let’s…stay within each other’s reach, ok?” he said hoarsely. He felt her nod under his chin.

**Author's Note:**

> OK well
> 
> that was that and uh
> 
> hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
